Mattress retainer



Nov. 7, 1967 o. N. GARDNER MATTRESS RETAINER Filed May 23, 1966 Max/W01. ORVILLE N. GARDNER ,47' TOP/1450f United States Patent 3,350,726 MATTRESS RETAINER Orville N. Gardner, 1406 Stewart Ave, Levittown, Pa. 19057 Filed May 23, 1966, Ser. No. 551,969 6 Claims. (Cl. --317) ABSTRACT or THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for retaining a mattress in a desired position relative to a support therefore wherein corner guards are secured adjacent lower ends thereof to corners of the support, a harness is secured to each of the corner guards at a medial portion thereof, and the upper portions of said corner guards serving to restrain the mattress from sliding with respect to the support.

This invention relates to a mattress retainer and more particularly to a mattress retainer which effectively prevents shifting of a mattress relative to a spring thereunder and yet the mattress and the mattress retainer are not integrally interconnected.

Shifting of a mattress relative to a spring thereunder creates various problems and causes uneven wear of the mattress and other undesirable effects. However, in preventing shifting of the mattress relative to the spring thereunder, comfort of the user of the mattress must not be compromised. Thus, members which are directly connected to the mattress must be avoided to insure that the comfort of the user is maintained.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a reliable and efiicient means for preventing shifting of a mattress relative to a spring positioned thereunder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a mattress retainer which is with the mattress. 7

It is a further object of the present "invention to provide a new, useful and-non-obvious mattress retainer which is effective in operation, simple to manufacture, and reliable in use.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a mattress retainer which may be modified to fit any. size bed by means of an adjustment mechanism.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a mattress retainer which is highly effective in use and does not disturb the comfort of one using the mattress. i

It is yet another objec't of the present invention to provide a mattress retainer which works on the principle of a third class lever wherein the working force is positioned between the load and the fulcrum point.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The above and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by providing a cradle means including a harness means and a plurality of retainer guards which is connected to a conventional spring. The retainer guards are secured to the corners of the spring by means of a screw or other such conventional connecting means. Each retainer guard is provided with a retainer bar integrally connected thereto. The harness is threaded through an adjustable keeper. The harness member is provided with a suitable tension so that the retainer guards are biased inwardly against the spring. The retainer guards may project approximately two to four inches above the spring. Therefore, when the mattress is positioned upon the spring, the retainer guards are also biased against the corners of the mattress. The retainer guards hold the mattress in proper alignment and prevent the mattress from shifting relative to the spring. The retainer guards function as a not integrally interconnected.

third class lever wherein the load is applied by the mattress and the working force which is provided by the harness which is positioned between the load and the fulcrum point. The fulcrum point is the screw or other connecting means which connects the retainer guards to the spring.

The harness member may be made of nylon or other suitable material. The harness member is adjustable to fit beds of various sizes. Keeper means cooperate with the harness member to provide for adjustability of the harness.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a .form which .is presently. preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instiumen talities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a top view partially in section of the mattress retainer of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of one corner of a spring showing the mattress retainer of the present invention connected thereto;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a section view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is disclosed in FIGURE 1 a mattress retainer generally indicated as 10.

The mattress retainer 10 is connected to a conventional box spring 12 and a conventional mattress 14 is adapted to be positioned on the spring 12 (see FIGURES 3 and 4).

12. The retainer guards 18 have a generally U-shaped.

cross-section 20 and are made of a tough plastic .or other suitable materials or combination of suitable materials. The retainer guards 18 are connected to the spring member 12 by means of screws 22 or other suitable connecting means.

Each of the retainer guards is provided with a retainer bar 24 which may be integrally connected thereto and formed therewith. The retainer bars 24 may also be con nected to the retainer guards 18 in any other suitable manner. Each of the retainer bars 24 has inwardly projecting legs 26 and a straight center portion 28. The portion 28 may be slightly longer than the width of the harness 16.

The harness member 16 may be composed of nylon or any other suitable material which is durable and resists wear and which can remain in tension for an indeterminate period of time. The harness 15 includes a center strap 30 and a plurality of diagonal projecting arms 32. In the preferred embodiment, the arms .32 may be heat welded at 34 to the center strap 30. The arms 32 may be connected to the strap 30 in any other convenient manner.

The arms 32 travel through suitable movable keepers 36. The arms 32 are looped around the retainer bars 24 as at 38 (see FIGURES 2 and 4) and are wound back through the keepers 36.

The keepers 36 are provided with a pair of slots 40 through which the arms 32 are threaded. The keepers 36 may be made of any suitable material and are preferably made of thin material so that there is no possibility of the keepers 36 being felt through the mattress by a user of the mattress.

The mattress retainer 10 functions as a third class lever. The load is applied by the mattress against the retainer guards 18. The working force is provided by the arms 32 of the harness 16. The fulcrum point of each guard 18 is the connecting means 22 which are utilized to connect the retainer guards 18 to the spring 12. Thus, the working force is applied between the load and the fulcrum so that the retainer guards 18 function as third class levers.

The arms 32 of the harness 16 are threaded through the keepers 36, around the bars 24 and are re-threaded through the keepers 36. The arms 32 are placed in tension and exert an inward force on the arms 32 and the guards 13. The ends 42 of the arms 32 may be allowed to freely extend across the arms 32 and remain unattached. If desired, the ends 42 may also be heat welded to the arms 32 but, if the ends 42 are heat welded to the arms 32 no further adjustment of the cradle means 15 could be made. Therefore, in the preferred embodiment, the ends 42 of the arms 32 are not connected but are allowed to remain free.

It is readily seen that there is no direct attachment between the retainer 10 and the mattress and all parts are sufficiently flexible and thin so that a user of the mattress is completely unaware of the cradle 15. Therefore maximum comfort is achieved by utilization of the mattress retainer 10. Shifting of the mattress relative to the spring is substantially prevented by means of the guards 18 and the mattress retainer 10 can be adjusted to accommodate any size mattress and spring. It is merely necessary to shift the keepers 36 to adjust the cradle 15 to accommodate beds of varying sizes.

The slots 40 f the keeper 36 may be provided with jagged teeth to prevent the marks 32 from moving with respect to the keeper 40.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for retaining a mattress in a desired position on a support therebelow having a planar upper surface, comprising a plurality of elongated upstanding retainer guards of channel-shaped cross-section, means adjacent the lower ends of said retainer guards for coupling said retainer guards to the support, said retainer guards having harness engaging means at medial portions thereof, said harness engaging means being adjacent the plane defined by the upper surface of the support when said retainer guards are in their operative disposition, said means for coupling said retainer guards to the support being distal from the plane defined by the upper surface of the support when said retainer guards are in their operative disposition, a harness coupled to said harness engaging means and interconnecting said retainer guards whereby said harness overlies the planar upper surface of the support when in its operative disposition and urges said retainer guards inwardly toward a mattress, said retainer guards including upper end portions extending above said harness engaging means for engaging portions of the mattress, whereby said retainer guards act as thirdclass levers to retain the mattress in a desired position on the support.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including a plurality of keepers, said harness means being threaded through said keepers, and said keepers being adjustable to thereby adjust the length of said harness means.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said harness includes a center strap and a plurality of diagonally projecting arms connected to said center strap.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said retainer guards are composed of tough plastic and said harness is composed of nylon.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said harness engaging means is a retainer bar having two inwardly projecting legs and a straight center portion, said straight center portion being sufficiently large to accommodate the width of said harness.

6. Apparatus comprising a mattress support having a planar upper surface for receivng a mattress in overlying relation thereto, and mattress retainer means for retaining a mattress in a generally contiguous position with respect to said support, said retainer means comprising a plurality of elongated upstanding retainer guards of channel-shaped cross-section, means adjacent the lower ends of said retainer guards coupling said retainer guards to said mattress support, said retainer guards having harness engaging means at medial portions thereof, said harness engaging means being disposed adjacent said planar upper surface of said mattress support, said means for coupling said retainer guards to said mattress support being disposed remote from said planar upper surface, a flexible harness coupled to said harness engaging means and interconnecting said retainer guards, said harness being disposed in overlying relation to said planar upper surface, said harness being tensioned to urge said retainer guards toward the mattress, said retainer guards including upper end portions above said planar upper surface for engagement with the corner portions of a mattress, whereby said retainer guards act as third-class levers to retain said mattress in contiguous relation with respect to said mattress support.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,154,557 4/1939 Bechik 5322 2,666,931 l/l954 Clerc 520?; X 2,979,737 4/1961 Pierre 532O 3,092,848 6/1963 Gronvold 5320 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

R, D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner, 

1. APPARATUS FOR RETAINING A MATTRESS IN A DESIRED POSITION ON A SUPPORT THEREBELOW HAVING A PLANAR UPPER SURFACE, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED UPSTANDING RETAINER GUARDS OF CHANNEL-SHAPED CROSS-SECTION, MEANS ADJACENT THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID RETAINER GUARDS FOR COUPLING SAID RETAINER GUARDS TO THE SUPPORT, SAID RETAINER GUARDS HAVING HARNESS ENGAGING MEANS AT MEDIAL PORTIONS THEREOF, SAID HARNESS ENGAGING MEANS BEING ADJACENT THE PLANE DEFINED BY THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE SUPPORT WHEN SAID RETAINER GUARDS ARE IN THEIR OPERATIVE DISPOSITION, SAID MEANS FOR COUPLING SAID RETIANER GUARDS TO THE SUPPORT BEING DISTAL FROM THE PLANE DEFINED BY THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE SUPPORT WHEN SAID RETAINER GUARDS ARE IN THEIR OPERATIVE DISPOSITION, A HARNESS COUPLED TO SAID HARNESS ENGAGING MEANS AND INTERCONNECTING SAID RETAINER GUARDS WHEREBY SAID HARNESS OVERLIES THE PLANAR UPPER SURFACE OF THE SUPPORT WHEN IN ITS OPERATIVE DISPOSITION AND URGES SAID RETAINER GUARDS INWARDLY TOWARD A MATTRESS, SAID RETAINER GAURDS INCLUDING UPPER END PORTIONS EXTENDING ABOVE SAID HARNESS ENGAGING MEANS FOR ENGAGING PORTIONS OF THE MATTRESS, WHEREBY SAID RETAINER GUARDS ACT AS THIRD-CLASS LEVERS TO RETAIN THE MATTRESS IN A DESIRED POSITION ON THE SUPPORT. 